Why You Should Choose Team Tactics For Cheltenham Hospitality

As one of our favourite sporting events in the UK calendar, we’ve been offering Cheltenham Festival hospitality for over 12 years. In our time we’ve seen high winds collapse structures, unlikely winners and more than our fair share of inebriated punters! But there are few events in the world that can match the history and consistency of Cheltenham Festival, which has through the decades (since 1864 in fact) provided a memorable day at the races. With this is mind we’ve produced this list of 7 reasons why you should choose Team Tactics for Cheltenham hospitality.

Cheltenham Racecourse

Team Tactics has been established for 15 years so there is not a lot that we haven’t experienced. Although highly enjoyable, we realise that for many corporate clients hosting their own guests it can be stressful. With our experience we take the strain out of planning your day at Cheltenham, from initial enquiry to after-care.
Our mission statement is to “go the extra mile”. We can organise for our clients a range of superb add-on’s to their day at the races, such as a steam train journey to and from Cheltenham racecourse.
Its all about personal service. This may sound strange but many employ temporary staff on the day, however with Team Tactics you’ll be looked after by Hellen, our Events Director, who has been watching over our Cheltenham hospitality facilities for 11 years. Her name appears on many of the testimonials thanking her for her attentive and professional manner.
Our commitment to our clients is long term. We want clients to return year on year, so our aim is to provide the best package possible for you and the best service.
We offer the best range of packages available, ranging from the cost effective Moscow Flyer Restaurant to the best Needham & Needham boxes. Our experience and knowledge of Cheltenham Festival allows us to provide an expert opinion on which facility best matches your requirements.
We don’t stop at Cheltenham. Having worked with you once and building up an understanding of your business and the personalities, we hope to be able to provide further exciting events for each and every client. Team Tactics provide a whole range of events, from the mainstream sporting and cultural events to the more bespoke creative events.
Superb value for money. it is difficult to say we won’t be beaten on price, but we always endeavour, using industry contacts, to bring to you the most competitive Cheltenham hospitality prices

Happy clients at Cheltenham Festival

The Best 2012 Movie Releases & Private Screenings

2012 is a BIG year for film releases and we’ve got just the ticket for those of you looking for something a bit different for your next cinema visit. Our private screening’s offer the best in terms of luxury and exclusivity, providing guests with the ultimate cinema experience.

Private Cinema

We’re sure that ‘Wrath of the Titans’, scheduled for released March 30th, will be a massive release, whilst Dark Shadows has promise with the classic pairing of Tim Burton at the helm and Johnny Depp as the lead. Of course there’s also several big releases missing from our PDF (sorry Mr Bond). If you’d like to see another film that you’ve heard about for 2012 on one of our private screening corporate events, please contact us and we can arrange for the necessary rights from the film studio, whether it’s pre-première, pre-release or general release!

The following PDF contains the movie releases for 2012, provided to us by Warner Bros and Paramount studios. Click here for our PDF packed full of 2012 Movie Releases!

Ideal Time For Team Building

We’ve arrived in a fresh new year, full of hope as London moves firmly into the world’s spotlight with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics. We’re often asked when’s the ideal time for team building and more recently is it advisable to hold one in London during the Games. With this in mind we thought we’d offer a summary of the different types of team building events available and also when the best time of the year is to hold them.

Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Firstly most team building companies will broadly categorise their activities into indoor and outdoor. Most clients typically have a preference for either category. The obvious time of the year for indoor is during the spring/winter months whilst outdoor activities would be summer/autumn (although you could forgive a skeptical look here given the unpredictable British weather!). However not all events fit so neatly into these two categories. For instance we hold outdoor events that fit perfectly with the winter weather. Treasure Hunts during the festive season are fantastic for raising the Christmas spirit. London is particularly festive making it a fantastic location, not to mention the plethora of cocktail bars and pubs teams can retire too after their event!

We like to organise our events into slightly more appealing and evocative categories too. Categories such as musical, artistic or active. With these categories we’re often better able to find out exactly what our client is looking for and also what type of events fit their team best. For instance a musical event may be completely unappealing to one client but the best thing since Beethoven to another!

Drumming

Musical events we find are great during the short, cold months, as they raise energy levels through the roof. For instance our Global Music Experience takes participants on a trip around the world, taking in the power and energy of music and ‘cultural expressions’ from the different continents. Participants use drumming, percussion, movement and costume to learn new skills and the importance of team work.

Artistic events are great during spring and autumn. Spring’s always an inspirational time, as the sun shines for longer and nature comes out of hibernation. A bold, challenging art event is perfect for invigorating your team and setting them up for a fantastic summer. Our Animation Nation event (contact us for more details) has teams work with a team of professional animators, one of whom worked for Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit Curse of the Were-rabbit, creating plasticine characters and bringing them to life through animation. Each plasticine character and animation is their own creation, made using industry standard equipment.

Animation Nation

Finally active events are great during the summer. Longer days give great flexibility in terms of staging large outdoor events and, fingers crossed, the weather is likely to be well matched to a day outside. Our Ocean Treasure Hunts are simply unbeatable as a team building event when the sun is shining. Or multi-activity days and our It’s a Knockout event are great for outdoor fun and raising morale.

Although we find these different categories work particularly well during certain times of the year that’s not to say they can’t work well at other times. The best judge of that is you! If you sense your team feels lethargic then pick them up with an amazing musical event or if they’re tired creatively then an artistic event could be perfect. We’ve lots of events and the knowledge to organise the event that is best for you.

Ocean Treasure Hunt

End Of Year Madness With Our Television Experience

Last week we welcomed to the 01 Zero One Studio’s in London a group of 48, who were all fantastic participants in our Television Team Day Experience. The participants worked together to put together three different features including a Quiz, Shopping Channel and ‘What’s My Line’ – the exciting show of deduction. The TV Experience is a fantastic team building activity, as every team member has an important role to play in order to put together a live feature. Roles range from presenter to camera operator to producer. Not only is collective responsibility essential but individuals also need to shine as the spotlight falls on them and display qualities such as creativity and confidence.

Camera Operators

First was the filming of a Christmas special ‘Quiz of the Year’, with guests from lots of exotic places including New Zealand and even The North. Did you know that Hamburgers are named not because they contain ham (which they don’t obviously) but because they originated in Hamburg, Germany. I certainly didn’t!

Next up was the ‘Shopping Channel’ feature which saw two highly charismatic presenters, with special guests, selling a variety of goods ranging from a lovely scarf and glove set (predicted to be the next big thing next summer), to a jewellery collection inspired by Barbie. Of particular note however were the ‘Transformers in Disguise’, as seen on ‘Julio Hits the Shops’. One popular caller was even offered a massive 5% discount if she brought 5,000,000 units for her Christmas gifts!

Stars of the Shopping Channel Finally participants filmed and starred in the show ‘What’s My Line’, hosted by a very professional Tommy Glun. Panellists, comprised of guests such as Pat Butcher and Mike Baldwin, had to use their powers of deduction as well as miming to guess the special guests occupation.

Overall this was a fantastic and fun Christmas team building exercise, with the team really coming together and having a lot of laughs in the process. The production of all three events went very well, with all members of the team effectively carrying out their roles, from cameraman to panellist, and I’d go so far to say that some may even have a second calling as presenters (I’m talking about you Julio)!

A Few Christmas Event Ideas From This Year

This Christmas has definitely been one of the busiest yet, proving that even with the economic gloom surrounding Europe and Mr Cameron’s right/wrong (please delete as appropriate) decision to veto, bosses still value a fantastic Christmas corporate event. We’ve held a range of events so far this December, ranging from an awesome treasure hunt in the National History Museum to a fabulous trip Eurostar to Paris wine tasting event. Below is a brief write-up on a selection of our original Christmas events held this year. Hopefully we can inspire you to hold your one of your own Christmas team building events with us next year!

Paris

There’s a great range of Yuletide Treasure Hunts available on our Christmas events page, but we’d been looking forward to holding an indoor hunt inside the National History Museum since the event was first conceptualised! I mean, what could be more Christmassy than getting together in that magical and historical building (complete with ice rink outside) for a treasure hunt.

We also held a wonderful poker evening with private dining at the Stafford Hotel (which was also very Christmassy I must say, the scent of Christmas Tree in the reception was particularly special!). With mulled wine on arrival guests settled down with two professional croupiers to learn the game. It’s worth noting too that one of the croupiers, Mark, has dealt to some of the world’s best poker players. After their introductory session guests enjoyed a four-course meal in the adjoining private dining room, with dishes such as tarlet of wild mushroom with poached egg and hollandaise sauce, as well as a sumptuous traditional Christmas course of roast Goosnargh turkey, quince, walnut and foie gras stuffing and traditional vegetables and potatoes. After their meal guests returned to the tables to take part in a poker tournament and put their newly learnt skills to the test.

Christmas Event at the Stafford Hotel

Hellen last Saturday (10th) also accompanied a well known online property company to Paris via Eurostar, where they enjoyed a fine day sightseeing as well as a private dining experience at the historical restaurant Le Procope where things got very merry! Here an expert sommelier also ran a wine tasting session alongside the guests’ meal.

Overall we held 11 events last week and we couldn’t be happier with the feedback we’ve received so far! Our favourite quote has to of been from a client who organised a Christmas party with us, describing it as “the best event we’ve held in over 15 years“. If you’ve held a Christmas event this year we’d love to hear about it. Let us know what your Christmas has been like so far on Twitter (@Team_Tactics)!

Vision For Lord’s – ‘The Home Of Cricket’

Last week the Times reported that Marylebone Cricket Club, the owners of Lord’s, decided that any redevelopments at Lord’s will be done on a “stand-by-stand basis”. Although widely regarded as one of the best cricket stadium’s in the world, the committee would look to fund redevelopments on the freehold land MCC own which, Chairmen Oliver Stockden says, will “provide significantly improved amenities”.

However this is no straight forward process as planning approval must first be granted by Westminster Council as well as approved by at least two-thirds of the 18,000 strong MCC members. Marylebone Cricket Club are the guardians of the law and spirit of cricket and so one would expect that the redevelopments must be worthy of Cricket’s home ground.

Lord’s is a wonderful mix of old and new, with iconic sights such as the Old Father Time weather vane, subject of the poem Lord’s Test, which sits atop the Mount Stand or the 121-year old Pavilion, which has seen crickets greatest players visit. In 2004 Lord’s spent a considerable amount re-fitting the Pavilion including a redecoration of the Long Room. The new development will probably start further improving the Pavilion. There is also the award winning J.P. Morgan Media Centre, which provides journalists and commentators uninterrupted views of the field and was built using boat-building technologies.

However other cricket stadiums in England have also invested significant sums into redeveloping their own facilities in order to win the right to stage International cricket fixtures.

Recently Edgbaston was praised by the ECB for it’s spacious and cutting edge facilities ‘marginally better than Lord’s’ following a £32 million redevelopment. Within the new state-of-the-art Pavilion Stand guests will find some of the best hospitality facilities in the UK as well as one of the best atmosphere’s in English cricket. Furthermore The Rose Bowl recently invested over half a million pounds in erecting permanent world class floodlights, the only cricket stadium in the UK to do so, which allows them to stage International fixtures day or night, thus offering maximum convenience to spectators.

With the competition between cricket stadiums becoming ever more tough with emerging stadium’s such as Southampton’s The Rose Bowl or Cardiff’s SWALEC Stadium, MCC will be looking to ensure Lord’s Cricket Ground continue to receive the Platinum package of major matches by the ECB. Also Lord’s has the honour of traditionally hosting the first England Test of the summer.

We’ve still limited availability for Lord’s hospitality packages and Edgbaston fixtures as well at the fantastic Kia Oval, for England international fixtures in 2012, so contact us today to avoid disappointment!

How To Hold A Last Minute Team Building Event

Last minute team building events can often be an absolute nightmare for the organiser, who’ll often find themselves taken out of their comfort zone, having to arrange a thousand and one small details at short notice. Our ethos lies in going ‘the extra mile’, as we find our clients often find comfort in the details that have been carefully assimilated over a period in order to cover every angle and ensure that nothing goes overlooked.

Therefore it’s no surprise that bookers for last minute events can be extremely anxious. Below are some of our tips in order to ensure that you get the most from your last minute team building events and cover every angle! There’s still time to arrange for a fun and memorable office party this Christmas; contact us today to discuss our Christmas team building games.

Ask for an itinerary. Although it’s impossible to know how your event will pan out before you get there, a sample itinerary can help identify any critical points in your event. Also it helps ensure everyone is on the same boat, meaning no nasty surprises and you have peace of mind.
If necessary, make a site visit. By familiarising yourself with the venue beforehand, you can get to know the layout, facilities, people, atmosphere etc. which will all help make you feel more comfortable next time around and confident when dealing with any problems during the event. It’s also a great way to meet your point of contact face to face to go over any last minute details.
Communicate with your team. The first test of your team skills and perhaps the most critical to ensuring everyone gets the most from their event! Before your event make sure you’ve checked with your organiser what’s required from you and communicate this clearly and promptly to your team. This could be details such as bring comfortable shoes, dietary requirements, or even make sure you don’t have a big lunch before!
Try to have your numbers finalised. As with 99% of event suppliers and venues, there’s a fixed deadline for submitting your final guest numbers. Where possible a good supplier will look to accommodate an increase/decrease in numbers or change of date, however to minimise your risk, try to have a definite ‘confirmed’ list so that you don’t end up paying for more places than you need.
Think about you start and end locations. Often team building events can start and end in two separate locations, therefore think about where’s best for you and your team to end the event at, e.g. the team’s favourite local pub, restaurant, closest tube/train station. For instance our Thames Power Blast gives guests the choice of which pier on the Thames they’d like to embark and disembark at. This’ll help make your event convenient for your team and reduce the likelihood of drop outs after you’ve booked. It’s also an essential step if you plan on heading to a venue after with the team.

4 Corporate Event Industry Predictions For 2029

The end of the year is nearly upon us and so it only seems right that we give our readers our event industry predictions for 2029. To be honest predicting further ahead than a year is difficult in the event industry thanks to the continual efforts of event agencies to bring fresh and exciting ideas to their clients and we wouldn’t be surprised if Richard Branson is holding Virgin Galactic team building events on the moon by 2013, let alone 2029. But below you’ll find four general trends in the corporate events industry that reflect what we’ve noticed from our clients.

1. Corporate Events and marketing will be an integrated effort. We’ve seen a growing rise in the number of clients wanting to be able to take more away from an event other than the typical measurables and happy memories. Clients are looking for an event that can be used as a communication tool afterwards, whether this is for internal or external communications. We often work our events to a client’s brief, whether it’s to produce a short film/product about their company’s values or to be used as part of a PR stunt or other promotional tool.

2. Technology will improve participants experience. As you may have seen, many of our treasure hunt events now use Samsung Galaxy tab computer’s. Our ‘Around the World’ Christmas treasure hunt for instance allows participants to take part in a virtual treasure hunt around the world (a bit like Santa Claus!). Furthermore we’re now seeing technology playing a vital part pre and post event with skilled social media marketers creating an event buzz and facilitating greater interaction and networking between attendees/participants.

3. More events will be held remotely. There is a growing number of events being held in multiple locations (particularly in large international companies) thanks to improvements in broadband speeds and technology. Companies are now becoming better equipped to bring their employees together in real-time events remotely and for a fraction of the cost.

4. The unthinkable becomes the thinkable. More and more we’re seeing strange and often far fetched requests becoming possible and are creating event experiences that couldn’t normally be achieved. For instance to star, film and produce their own short film in the legendary Pinewood Studios on our Television Experience event. Or, working with one of the animators from Wallace and Gromit, producing a high quality animated film on our Animation Nation event. Traditional barriers on what can be achieved are continually being broken by leading event agencies who recognise the need to push an event in new directions in order to provide a real experience.

So there it is, a snippet of our view of the future! For those of you who may not be looking so far into the future we’ve plenty of Office Christmas party ideas. Availability’s getting low now so contact us soon and we’d love to talk about some our events for this Christmas and for 2012.

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